When Time and Eternity came out on PS3, so many JP reviews had said it was garbage. In most cases, they scored it negatively because it didn't live up to the full hype that had generated during development.

In the end, we got an RPG with what I would say is a simple but highly customizable battle system, wonderfully colorful graphics, a story that didn't take itself too seriously but still had some great moments, silly humor, and a fantastic soundtrack. Was definitely one of my top games for that year.

What games has everyone else played and loved despite hate for 'em being "mainstream?"

Deadly Premonition. I love the game for it's quirkiness, and the story is intriguing most of the way through. While the gameplay is a bit rough, I really enjoyed the game most of the time.

I love Final Fantasy VIII.

Though I see people's point about the junction system. I kinda like it, though, it's easy to give your character super speed and just have turn after turn with less than a second in between.

Where's draygone's post about punky skunk?

Punky Skunk.

Another one for me: Deadly Towers.

Devil May Cry (all four), Darksiders (both), Dust, Star Fox 2, DKC3, Parasite Eve 2, Hand Of Fate, Freedom Planet (with an exemption from Ix), Legend of Korra, Disgaea (all four)... and Beyond Good and Evil.

Off the top.

There's a hatedom for Freedom Planet? I'll take that over almost any Sonic game any day.

Yeah, man. The most I hear is people calling it a poor knock off.

Sounds like a group that hasn't even actually played it. Yeah, there's the joke that it's the "best Sonic game in ages," but I'd argue it's not a knock-off since not every fast-moving 2D platformer is a Sonic game, after all.

It really is the best sonic game these days. And before you, Ix was the only person who's told me he liked it. Glad to know we aren't alone.

Devil May Cry? I didn't know that one was hated. I haven't played a whole lot of it but I did enjoy it.

And I assume DKC3 is Donkey Kong Country 3. I liked that one too.

If anything, this thread is making me feel better to know that other people like things I like after being told the things I like aren't that good.

And of course there are the games that are bad, but we still love anyway. Dray admitted Punky Skunk was bad during the race and I can agree Deadly Towers is a badly designed game, but we still enjoy them courtesy of them being special for us in some way.

In terms of another title that's a bit more well-liked in general, neither of my brothers liked the first Super Mario Land but I do, mainly because it was one of the first games I beat before they did.

Off the top of my head...

Sega Genesis
Awesome Possum
WarpSpeed
Sword Of Sodan

Game Boy Advance
Gauntlet Dark Legacy

All hated by the Internet, but they're genuinely fun to play. Awesome Possum and Sword Of Sodan have made Top 10 lists of worst Sega Genesis games on Youtube. I haven't seen anything good about WarpSpeed. And Gauntlet Dark Legacy (GBA version) has a lot of negative reviews at GameFAQs. The latter is genuinely bad in a lot of ways, but it's also genuinely fun to play. Same goes for the others, come to think of it. They're not anywhere close to perfect, but are still fun to play.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex.

Alot of people I remember not liking this game because of it feeling too much like a re-hash, poor loading times, and just generally feeling like a rushed and lifeless effort to make a new Crash game.

I personally thought it took what worked with most of the older Crash games and it didn't feel lifeless at all. It also is more forgiving to players unfamiliar with the kind of platformers that the older Crash games were like, which to a younger me, was definitely more appreciated.

Also, I owned the game on XBOX, the loading times weren't anywhere near as bad on that copy. PlayStation 2 version is a completely different story.

I can't imagine most of the games Lantis mentioned being hated.

Aside from Dust, for obvious reasons, have you had any interest in playing any of them?

DKC3, Freedom Planet, Disgaea, and Beyond Good & Evil. And to a lesser extent, Star Fox 2. So yes.

I hate every game Lantis likes.